


I shouldn't have to apologize for just existing

by kurojiri



Series: Iron Man Bingo 2019 Fills [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Gen, Iron Man Bingo 2019, Maze Runner AU, Memory Alteration, Tony Stark-centric, Tony tries his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 00:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18083669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurojiri/pseuds/kurojiri
Summary: It was a shame that the days were starting to blur together while his memories were only getting messier the longer he stayed there.





	I shouldn't have to apologize for just existing

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a couple of years since I've read Maze Runner, so I'm a tad rusty with the plot. Anyways, slowly, I'm finishing my squares for my bingo. 
> 
> Square Fill: Maze Runner AU

It was always the same.

Waking up in the cold dirt ground, as he huddled within his thin worn blankets for a few minutes to allow his mind to whirl back to life. His skin would be coated with sweat and dirt, and Tony knew he used to live a life that had been vastly cleaner than where he was in now. Metallic too with phantom sounds of machines working under his fingertips. His life before had not been cluttered with other pubescent guys huddling when they needed to stay warm. His memories, though not all correctly placed, had told him enough that he knew that he was not supposed to be there. It felt wrong. Like something had changed, and he was now a prisoner being watched.

He didn’t know how his mind came up with that; only that he had a small gist of it that remained in his dreams, when he had been forced to shut down his body in order to maintain whatever calories he could. He felt pathetic each time he woke up with the faintest whispers of his mother and another man that was not his father. An uncle? A butler?

It didn't matter. But it did. (It did.)

Tony knew his last name. He knew he had brown hair that sometimes curled after he dried his hair after a quick (and always cold) shower when he didn’t want to waste his time heating it up, brown eyes that were sometimes squinting when he tried his best to remember what he used to do before he ended up here. It had something to do with computers, machines of all kinds. He used to live in a clean pricey place.

It had made sense when some people grunted at him; as if they remembered that they should hate the privileges he used to have before they were all summoned to this little spot in hell. Not all of them were mean, but sometimes Tony noticed the glares that wouldn’t ever dim. His own safety net had been created quickly enough with the reintroductions of Rhodey and Happy, who were both somehow buried deep inside his memories from before he had been tasked into answering the maze. They had been friends before, and they were still a part of his own circle now. Those hidden memories had been enough to strike alliances with others that didn’t mind his quirks. Had helped when he knew that his mouth could land him a punch or two.

(He deserved it sometimes. Other times, well, Tony did his best to keep clear. They only had so many bandages and disinfect to waste on petty arguments.)

He got used to it, eventually, but when someone like Tony was imprisoned, he took the challenge of surviving in their new personal hell. The maze had scared him to some extent and with his self-preservation skills it had given him some options on how he wanted to solve their predicament. Unlike some that didn't bother thinking too far ahead. (And those had been the ones that hardly lasted.) But he had also had a knack of being a bit of a gambler when he thought he could crack the maze. It took a few years of getting used to his own growth spurt. Of finding and having enough scraps of metal to build weapons for those that dared to go out there. His skills had landed him some brownie points for the neutral people in their group from the beginning.

But it still hadn’t changed that they were all still stuck there. With Tony always waking up to the same scene and having to psych himself to unwrap from his poor of an excuse of a blanket and quickly get his portion of food before cleaning up to the best of his ability. (He had been clever and silent when it came to his stash of toiletries, he won.)

He missed his memories, his full intact ones. It would have been easier if he could puzzle back everything.

“Tones, what do you think is our chances of succeeding today?” Rhodey had finished cleaning his plate when he noticed Tony getting closer to where his best friends were.

The fire had been still going strong with stragglers eating their portions. The early risers had already been working on their chores and the rest were going into their own paces as the morning started. In the background Happy had laced his shoes and looked at the both of them with a tired smile. It had been a few days since they had buried the guys that didn’t make it back from the last outing. The somber mood had simmered; but like clockwork, they had been replaced soon enough with the new comers. Happy had been in charge of giving them a tour and helping them get used to living with the rest of the group.

It had been slow going. Numb. It felt like clear mind was too much to ask some days when Tony couldn’t help how his eyes wandered back to the grave where their markers were growing.

“Good as any, so longs as nobody breaks from formation.”

Happy snorted without humor. They all knew who Tony was referring to, not that they would explain it further. It wouldn’t be wise to start another fight. Rhodey sighed, but had made the motion to stretch out his body before walking with Happy to help with the newbies. Tony took that as a cue to head to his mini workshop that he had been graciously given after he’d shown his skills. Few other guys had the capacity to follow and understand his directions. He had made sure to use all his resources he’d been given since day one. It went on like that with him checking over his work, answering all questions he could and overall, trying to prep for the time when the maze would open.

One day they would all be free. The maze wouldn’t defeat him and Tony would remember his life from before. But for now, he would make sure he would live to see what was beyond the maze (and of the outside world where the rest of his family was). He would make all the right weapons and protection that they needed. Would fight for having a word during counsel hours. And would work to make sure that there would come a time when waking up cold, and dirty would be a distant blur. Tony would not give up.

Not when Rhodey and Happy were there suffering.

Tony Stark had been put on earth for a reason but it hadn’t been to be caged in and kept prisoner; he knew that much.


End file.
